Top 10 People Who Kill People

Following my recent obsession with Dexter, I've decided to put together my Top 10 "People Who Kill People":

1) Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs

Despite the character falling into self-parody in Hannibal and Red Dragon, Anthony Hopkins' first portrayal of the liver-quaffing serial killer is as grimly fascinating as ever. Although his break from prison is memorable, it's his scenes with Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) that linger. Hopkins' best-known roles since then have tended to be period films (The Remains Of The Day, Howard's End, Shadowlands) but he'll always be remembered as Lecter. Baring in mind that Hopkins has stiff competition from Brian Cox, who played Lecter previously in Manhunter, and from Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill, that's one heck on an achievement.

2) Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2


A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that Quentin Tarantino can't write female characters, which is baffling given that three of his movies have centered around strong, memorable women. Uma Thurman gives the best performance of her career, finding the ultimate role in The Bride aka Beatrix Kiddo. The intense physicality of her performance (the scene in Kill Bill: Volume 1 where she has drag herself into the Pussy Wagon without using her legs springs to mind here) is impressive, but it's Thurman's mixture of gutsy independence, raw emotion and deadpan humour that make her so watchable. After punching her way out of a coffin, covered in dirt and bleeding from a shotgun wound she walks into a cafe and simply says "Could I have a glass of water, please?" Genius.

3) Pauline Parker in Heavenly Creatures



Pauline is perhaps the most sympathetic character on the list. Kate Winslet may have been the breakout performer from Peter Jackson's luminous, unhinged biopic but Melanie Lynskey is every bit as memorable. As well-meaning adult figures attempt to put a stop to the intimate friendship between Pauline and Juliet Hulme, Pauline's ambivalence towards her kindly mother turns to rancour. Her diary entries, surprisingly matter-of-fact in their delivery - "Tomorrow morning Mother shall be dead. How odd" - are taken from the diaries of the real Pauline, who now lives in the Orkney islands.

4) Scar in The Lion King


One of the few Disney characters who we actually see kill somebody, here the mighty James Earl Jones-voiced Mufasa. Scar might not be my favourite Disney villain (I tend to prefer the women: Maleficent, Ursula, Cruella), Jeremy Irons' sarcastic tone suits the character well. The moment when he throws Mufasa off the cliff, which comes right after the stunning stampede sequence, is one of Disney's most dramatic moments. Of course, Scar meets a sticky end when he's eaten alive by hyenas, but he's perhaps the most memorable character in a film jam-packed with great ones. Although technically Scar's not so much of a person who kills people, but a badass lion with a black mane denoting his evilness, but no list would be complete without a Disney character.


5) Michael Myers in Halloween

Michael Myers is the ultimate stalk-and-slash killer. Black Christmas may have been the first horror film to show the murders from the killer's point-of-view, but Michael Myers remains iconic. The mask, the troubled childhood (recently mined in Rob Zombie's pointless Halloween remake), his fascination with sister Laurie Strode, his seemingly supernatural ability to survive what any would-be plucky heroine throws at him. All of this and more made him a slasher movie template for years.


6) Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct



No list would be complete without Sharon Stone's icepick-wielding, lady-part-flashing serial killer. Sexy and smart, she's more than a match for Michael Douglas. In a later movie, Scream, Rose McGowan's character cites Catherine Trammell as the only female serial killer in the movies and she's not wrong. Most female killers in film tend to kill as acts of revenge, such as Beatrix Kiddo, Sally Field in An Eye For An Eye or Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female.


7) Kit in Badlands


Tempting as it is to put either Bonnie and/or Clyde here, Kit is probably my favourite killer on the road, even if he doesn't wear killer berets like Bonnie Parker. Paired with a pre-Carrie Sissy Spacek, Martin Sheen's gun-toting, back-to-nature serial killer on the run was perfect for Malick's typically intelligent film, which takes in themes of love, death, innocence and the conflict between man and nature. Despite being completely amoral, Kit is a supremely likeable antihero and part of the reason why the movie works is that you're constantly rooting for Kit and his goodtime gal to stay one step ahead of the cops.




8) Patrick Bateman in American Psycho


In the past year it would seem as if Christian Bale has done everything he can to tarnish his reputation in Hollywood. After an alleged assault on his mother after the UK premiere of The Dark Knight last July, in February Bale was then caught on audio ranting at a DOP on the set of Terminator Salvation who had wandered into his shot. It's worth remembering that his performance as the eponymous protagonist of Mary Harron's Brett Easton Ellis adaptation that broke him in America. It's a snarling, humorous performance set to a perfect soundtrack of 80s classics. Best moment? His moonwalk right before he chops off Jared Leto's head.


9) Darryl Revok in Scanners

I'm a big Cronenberg fan, especially his earlier body horror movies and Michael Ironside's performance as Daniel Revok is purely here for the manner in which he kills his victims. The opening sequence, where a press conference gasp as they witness somebody's head explode is brilliantly effective and for this reason alone he deserves a place on this list.

10) Peyton Flanders/Mrs. Mott in The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

"Cuckoo in the nest" films were all the rage in the early 90s, with both The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and Single White Female making big bucks. Whilst my love of Jennifer Jason Leigh is almost enough to make me want to put Hedy Carlson here, Peyton Flanders is just that little bit more devious. Wanting to extract revenge on the woman who accused Peyton's obstetrician husband of molesting her, thereby causing him to hang himself and for Peyton to lose the baby she had been carrying, Flanders poses as a nanny to Annabella Sciorra's Claire Bartel. Once inside she feeds Claire's baby with her own breast milk, accuses the gardener of paedophilia and kills Claire's friend Marlene (Julianne Moore) WITH A FUCKING GREENHOUSE. Not that I don't love Heady's "death by high heel", but Peyton really takes the biscuit.